Stay in the know: Receive our newsletters, reports and event invitations straight to your inbox.
Sign up to our mailing listThis update from TheCityUK Recapitalisation Group (RCG), supported by EY, provides revised estimates for levels of unsustainable debt faced by UK SMEs.
15 September 2020
Download the full reportThe updated projections are driven by a more positive outlook for the economy – due in part to government stimulus – but the recapitalisation of UK SMEs remains a huge challenge, and drag on the long-term return to economic growth.
The RCG currently estimates the total unsustainable business debt expected by March 2021 will be c.£67-£70bn, with as much as c.£20-£23bn of that expected to stem from government-guaranteed lending schemes. With further headwinds emerging, including the need to repay VAT and other taxes that have been deferred and loan repayment holidays and interest-free periods winding up, SMEs will be hard pressed to pay back what they owe at a time they can least afford to do so.
To read the update, please click the Download PDF button.
The final report of the RCG, published in July 2020, can be found here.
Read the speech delivered by Anne Richards DBE, our Leadership Council Chair, at our Annual Conference 2026.
Our consultation response supports the introduction of a new First-Time Buyer ISA and sets out how it should be designed to help more people save for a first home, while remaining simple for consumers and straightforward for providers to administer.
The Annual Conference 2026 took place on Thursday 18 June, bringing together senior leaders from across the financial and related professional services industry with political and regulatory stakeholders to explore themes around innovations in FinTech, the regulatory and taxation environment, and driving growth
